This was meant to be a probing examination of character, courage and skill. It was a test India’s top order met with aplomb, lording the exchanges for most part of Day One of the five-Test series against England. At stumps, India were 359-3.

Put in bat by Ben Stokes at Headingley on Friday, India bedded down but weren’t content to just grind it out. They stacked up the runs attractively and without fuss, Shubman Gill (127 not out) leading the way in his first outing as captain with no little help from Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and his deputy, Rishabh Pant (65 not out).

Super skipper 

Gill’s elevation to the captaincy in the immediacy of Rohit Sharma’s retirement was met with mixed reactions, his record outside the subcontinent held against him. Since making 91 against Australia in Brisbane in early 2021, he hadn’t topped 36 in 18 innings outside Asia. The 25-year-old couldn’t have chosen a more opportune time to end that barren run, breezing to his sixth Test century with authority, panache and supreme grace.